Taiwan New Party officials indicted for working on behalf of China

Group contacted serving and retired military officers

New Party official Wang Ping-chung indicted for working on China's behalf to contact military officers. (By Central News Agency)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – New Party spokesman Wang Ping-chung (王炳忠), his father and two supporters were indicted for violations of the National Security Act Wednesday, including recruiting serving and retired military officers to work for China.

The case originated with an investigation into Chinese student Zhou Hongxu (周泓旭), who was found guilty of trying to buy off a Taiwanese diplomat in return for confidential information and sentenced to 14 months in prison.

Zhou contacted Wang, who was indicted Wednesday with his father, Wang Chin-pu (王進步), and with two other New Party members, Lin Ming-cheng (林明正) and Hou Han-ting (侯漢廷).

The Taipei District Prosecutors Office said the group listened to instructions from the Chinese government’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) to form groups and websites in December 2014 with Zhou as a middleman, the Central News Agency reported.

They used their associations and websites to recruit a wide network which included serving and retired military officers as well as students, according to prosecutors. A total of nine serving officers from Army, Navy, Air Force and even the military intelligence service had been approached, the Apple Daily reported.

Wang’s father, Wang Chin-pu, set up an organization of his own which served as cover to manage funds coming from the TAO.

The younger Wang, Lin and Hou were charged with planning to harm national security and social order by developing organizations on behalf of China’s administrative, military and party institutions, while the elder Wang was prosecuted as an accomplice, CNA reported. Five employees of a company were indicted for helping the group change money illegally.

Speaking at a regular news conference Wednesday, a TAO spokesman condemned the indictments, accusing Taiwan’s government of persecuting supporters of unification with China.